UFC 144: Frankie Edgar vs. Benson Henderson in Japan;26 Feb 2012

[Naj85]

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo...ster_large.jpg

VETTE POSTER

Cker weten!
Heb er zin in

[Kemal]

Official fight card
Main card

• Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Benson Henderson
• Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs. Ryan Bader
• Heavyweight bout: Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo
• Welterweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
• Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon

Preliminary card

• Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch
• Lightweight bout: Takanori Gomi vs. George Sotiropoulos
• Featherweight bout: Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski
• Bantamweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Vaughan Lee
• Middleweight bout: Riki Fukuda vs. Steve Cantwell
• Bantamweight bout: Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso
• Featherweight bout: Tiequan Zhang vs. Leonard Garcia

[smike]

Vette card!

Maar waarom Gomi-Satiropoulos niet op main event?
Ook een wereldpartij!
Ben benieuwd naar Hunt, of hij nu door gaat trekken of dat zijn dagen voorbij zijn.
Bader is wel een erg overhyped, Jackson koed em en hij mag terug naar de preliminaries.

[smike]

De poster is trouwens ubervet!

[Kemal]

[ChingChong]

Kongo - Overeem lijkt ook wel wat!

[mma80]

Hele mooie poster! Doet mij denken aan de Pride tijd!

[Lionheart]

Hele mooie poster! Doet mij denken aan de Pride tijd!

Idd!

[Kemal]

Jim Miller Picking Edgar Over Henderson at UFC 144

UFC lightweight contender Jim Miller is picking UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar to retain his title against No. 1 contender Ben Henderson at UFC 144 in February.

Miller, who previously trained with Edgar and fought to a loss against Henderson last August, said Monday on The MMA Hour that he thinks Edgar is the better striker and wrestler.

The way Miller sees it, Henderson probably has the edge when it comes to submissions, but Edgar is too difficult of a grappler to submit. If Edgar doesn't get the knockout, he'll outwork Henderson for the decision.

"Frankie hits pretty hard," Miller told host Ariel Helwani. "I think Frankie is probably going to connect and if he can't finish him, then he's going to keep the pressure on him and beat him up the entire fight."

Miller last Friday stayed in a title contention by scoring a thrilling win over Melvin Guillard in the main event UFC on FX in Nashville. Miller wants at least one more fight before a title shot, possibly against Nate Diaz or the winner of Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis.

If Edgar and Miller both prevail in their next fights, the two New Jersey natives would be a perfect addition to the UFC on FOX 3 card, rumored to take place May in New Jersey.

"Maybe," Miller said with a laugh. "That sounds like fun."

[Kemal]

[Kemal]

UFC 144 Broadcast Will Be Four Hours, Feature Seven Fights

Next weekend's UFC 144 pay-per-view broadcast will bring with it a bonus hour of action, and two additional fights.
On Tuesday, UFC spokesman Ryan Grab confirmed that the pay-per-view window for the event has been extended from its usual three-hour window to four, and instead of the usual five-fight main card, fans who purchase the event will get to see seven bouts.

The show, which will take place from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on February 26, will air at its normal 10 pm ET start time.

In addition to the main event title bout pitting champion Frankie Edgar against Ben Henderson for the UFC lightweight title and the co-main event of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson against Ryan Bader, the other five fights broadcast will be Mark Hunt vs. Cheick Kongo, Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields, Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch, Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski and Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon.

The night's preliminary bouts will be seen on FX at 8 pm ET.

The event marks the first time the UFC has produced an event in Japan under Zuffa ownership.

[Kemal]

Rampage Jackson Reflective of Pride Days, 'Excited' to Return to Japan

In 2001, a 23-year-old junior college wrestler from Memphis, Tenn. by the name of Quinton Jackson traveled overseas to serve as an easy foil for Japanese folk hero Kazushi Sakuraba. Few could have predicted the chain of events that would follow.

Six years and 17 fights later, Quinton had become "Rampage," a Japanese folk hero in his own right, adored by a nation for his powerhouse style and violent victories over the best Pride Fighting Championships had to offer.
Now, over a decade since he first voyaged to the Land of the Rising Sun, Jackson returns with a new task in mind. Sure he would like to emerge triumphant over Ryan Bader at UFC 144's co-main event, but next weekend is also about something larger.

Jackson hopes to reignite the once-vibrant flame of Japanese mixed martial arts that was doused by the death of Pride.
"I think if anybody has a chance, it's the UFC," Rampage conceded during Tuesday's UFC 144 conference call. "The UFC is the biggest show on the planet right now. I remember back in the days when Pride was the biggest show, but the UFC has surpassed them. I think if anybody has a chance, it's the UFC, and if I have anything to do with it, I'm going to go there and fight my heart out. Put on a big show and try to put on the most exciting fight the Japanese fans have ever seen, to maybe want them to have the UFC come back."

That desire for excitement is the exact trait which endeared Rampage to Japanese audiences back in the old days. Between the iron chains, the howling, and ruthless performances personified by his slam of Ricardo Arona, Jackson cultivated an image by appealing to the eastern culture of showmanship.

"I was young, I didn't care. I just wanted to fight and put on the types of fights for the crowd," Jackson explained. "They love that type of stuff because pro wrestling is real popular there, and I kind of brought that type of factor to MMA."
It was inevitable the legend of Rampage would sprout quickly in a land where entertainment is at a premium. In retrospect, Pride's slew of squash matches and circus fights may not have been very sporting, but they produced an undeniable backlog of moments. And if you ask Rampage, those moments have mostly gone missing since he headed back west.
"Honestly, if I gave my thoughts on the match-making in the UFC, Joe Silva probably wouldn't even talk to me anymore, so I'm going to keep quiet on that," Jackson admitted, somewhat surprisingly. "Just to be honest, I think Pride had their match-makers make exciting fights.

"I don't think people understand, in America everybody is worried about who's going to win, and this and that. Who's winning and who's winning. Like, it ain't all about that. It's entertainment at the end of the day. The fans, they want to see entertaining fights, and fans got that. I don't think America has that yet."

If Jackson's remarks sound bitter, they surely aren't meant to be. Rather than digs at the UFC brass, his words hang in the air as wistful reminiscences of an era that exists only in memories of those that lived it.

"I really miss the fans, I'm not going to lie. I really miss fighting there," Jackson revealed. "It's something personal for me.
"My kids are from Japan. My kids grandparents are from there, and they never really watched me fight back in the day ... My two younger kids can come and watch me fight, and the in-laws can be in the crowd and watch me fight. I've never had that before, so it's just something I want to do."

To say Jackson is looking forward to Japan more than he is to Bader may not be that bold of an assumption. But just because the usual trash-talk has subdued into a starker form of reflection, it would still be unwise to think Rampage has gone soft.

"I've got nothing against Ryan Bader at all," the fighter coolly concluded. "I'm still going to try to knock his head off, but there ain't going to be no hard feelings about it."

[Kemal]

[KO.YOU.FOOL]

Cool Mark Hunt!

[Lionheart]

Benson gaat knallen tegen Edgar, ik hoop/weet bijna 100% zeker dat hij de belt van Edgar pakt.
Benson heeft een talent waar je u tegen zegt!

[Kemal]

[Splinta]

Gruwlijke kaart en ik ben er LIVE BIJ!!! WOOOOW Het gaat SICK worden!

[ZakKa!]

Gruwlijke kaart en ik ben er LIVE BIJ!!! WOOOOW Het gaat SICK worden!

Vet!!

[YoMarK]

Gruwlijke kaart en ik ben er LIVE BIJ!!! WOOOOW Het gaat SICK worden!

Damn! :jaloers:

[Lionheart]

Ben eigenlijk benieuwd naar het tijdstip van uitzending, gewoon als een normale ppv on 4 uur s'nachts?

x2

[Ralph]

Gruwlijke kaart en ik ben er LIVE BIJ!!! WOOOOW Het gaat SICK worden!

Veel plezier man! Probeer wat mooie foto's te maken en te delen met je forumbroeders

[Kemal]

[breahule]

Ben eigenlijk benieuwd naar het tijdstip van uitzending, gewoon als een normale ppv on 4 uur s'nachts?

Pride en K1 in Japan was toch altijd rond 9 uur zaterdag s'ochtends nl tijd. Daar hoop ik nu ook eigenlijk op!

[nick diaz]

Pride en K1 in Japan was toch altijd rond 9 uur zaterdag s'ochtends nl tijd. Daar hoop ik nu ook eigenlijk op!

X2!!!!

[The Company]

Helaas begint de maincard gewoon om 4 uur volgens mij.